Some questions about (pre)mastering (and mixing also)

[LeSedna]

Hello guys, there are things I wonder and I can't find good answers after having searched and read about it. I made a collection in order not to bother you too much !

I add that these questions refer more to a "pro" vision of the premastering, I mean, offering to a customer the final work, but they are open to any amateur too.

THE QUESTIONS

- Do you use the same DAW as for mixing to do your premastering ?

- Do you render your wav mixdown, and then load it in a new 1 track project to work on the final mix ? I mean, are you one of those who think the "master bus" FX chain must never be used ?

- What is your typical mastering chain ?

- Do you use any stereo or widening tool in the mastering process ? Cause I've read most of plugins suck at this.

- When you have to work on a whole EP or CD, do you master the whole thing after having mixed it all, or do you master every single track after having mixed it ? Or do you do the first for big projects, and the second for 2/3/4 songs projects ?

- When you work for a client, is your master compatible red book and is it ready to be pressed, or does it have to pass to a true "mastering" process to create the final product ? I mean, do you produce a list of single songs, or do you spend the time linking them together so that with a gapless reader your cd goes straight ? If yes what DAW do you use ? I've used for trial Samplitude that include everything for determining tracks of the CD, and burning it at once from the DAW, but isn't it possible with classic software to follow the industry rules for a premaster ?

- Do you all always check the mono version of your work ?

- Do you highpass your mixdown ? Are there clue frequencies you check ?

- Why do many people limit to -0.3 dBFS ?

- Do you use stereo and FFT analyzers a lot ?

- Do you use harmonic exciters, or any special tool more than comp/limiting/reverb etc.

- How much do you fight against the loudness war ?

- Do you have a special room for mastering that is more interesting ? Maybe a non squared one ? Where else than a car do you listen to your final work ?

- What is a clipper ? What difference with a limiter, and what use do you do of them ? I sometimes read "clip the snare". I heard of GClip and Event Horizon, but I don't understand where is the difference and I don't know where to hear it. I've read strange things : "ALOT of guys here are using clippers like Gclip instead of heavy limiting, Slate recommended using 2 in series each doing a bit of work." Answer here

A FEW QUESTIONS MORE ABOUT BASIC MIXING

- It's more a mixing question but... Do you ALWAYS use only substractive EQ ?

- Do you quite never EQ more than high/low pass, or do you often do surgery operation with your EQ ? Or, do you do this only to fit the snare in between the guitars mainly for example ? When do you know you've lost the battle and have to start from zero again ?

- Do you include the mastering in your mental scheme, I mean do you count on any treatment, or do you prefer not to think about it and make your mix sound good just in the mix, and consider mastering as mainly destructive ?

- What is your all day toolbox ? Not about the product especially, but what do you always use ? (ex : EQ - Comp - Limiter - Stereo Imager - Drumagog etc)

SUBSIDIARY QUESTION

Why do many of you use that strange smiley : ¯\(°_o)/¯

BONUS

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQEJh3kqZN0&feature=related[/ame]

note the comment : "What type of dithering did you use? "

 

[ahjteam]

Why do many of you use that strange smiley : ¯(°_o)/¯

 

[LeSedna]

Ahahaha thanks ! Who is it ?

I started to edit my first post cause I just found some answer myself, but I found that if someone was gonne read me and aske the same question he would find the answer too

 

[Pot]

jesus dude ...want to now everything in one post

 

[riffmachine]

Hello guys, there are things I wonder and I can't find good answers after having searched and read about it. I made a collection in order not to bother you too much !

I add that these questions refer more to a "pro" vision of the premastering, I mean, offering to a customer the final work, but they are open to any amateur too.

THE QUESTIONS

- Do you use the same DAW as for mixing to do your premastering ?

- Do you render your wav mixdown, and then load it in a new 1 track project to work on the final mix ? I mean, are you one of those who think the "master bus" FX chain must never be used ?

- What is your typical mastering chain ?

- Do you use any stereo or widening tool in the mastering process ? Cause I've read most of plugins suck at this.

- When you have to work on a whole EP or CD, do you master the whole thing after having mixed it all, or do you master every single track after having mixed it ? Or do you do the first for big projects, and the second for 2/3/4 songs projects ?

- When you work for a client, is your master compatible red book and is it ready to be pressed, or does it have to pass to a true "mastering" process to create the final product ? I mean, do you produce a list of single songs, or do you spend the time linking them together so that with a gapless reader your cd goes straight ? If yes what DAW do you use ? I've used for trial Samplitude that include everything for determining tracks of the CD, and burning it at once from the DAW, but isn't it possible with classic software to follow the industry rules for a premaster ?

- Do you all always check the mono version of your work ?

- Do you highpass your mixdown ? Are there clue frequencies you check ?

- Why do many people limit to -0.3 dBFS ?

- Do you use stereo and FFT analyzers a lot ?

- Do you use harmonic exciters, or any special tool more than comp/limiting/reverb etc.

- How much do you fight against the loudness war ?

- Do you have a special room for mastering that is more interesting ? Maybe a non squared one ? Where else than a car do you listen to your final work ?

- What is a clipper ? What difference with a limiter, and what use do you do of them ? I sometimes read "clip the snare". I heard of GClip and Event Horizon, but I don't understand where is the difference and I don't know where to hear it. I've read strange things : "ALOT of guys here are using clippers like Gclip instead of heavy limiting, Slate recommended using 2 in series each doing a bit of work." Answer here

A FEW QUESTIONS MORE ABOUT BASIC MIXING

- It's more a mixing question but... Do you ALWAYS use only substractive EQ ?

- Do you quite never EQ more than high/low pass, or do you often do surgery operation with your EQ ? Or, do you do this only to fit the snare in between the guitars mainly for example ? When do you know you've lost the battle and have to start from zero again ?

- Do you include the mastering in your mental scheme, I mean do you count on any treatment, or do you prefer not to think about it and make your mix sound good just in the mix, and consider mastering as mainly destructive ?

- What is your all day toolbox ? Not about the product especially, but what do you always use ? (ex : EQ - Comp - Limiter - Stereo Imager - Drumagog etc)

SUBSIDIARY QUESTION

Why do many of you use that strange smiley : ¯(°_o)/¯

BONUS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQEJh3kqZN0&feature=related

note the comment : "What type of dithering did you use? "

Christ almighty that's a lot of questions. I'll start by saying that my experience is relatively young and my mastering skills are not my best strength. In fact I'm only just getting my business license this week, and I still have a lot of things to organize and learn. To answer your questions though, I use Pro Tools for my mixing and mastering and then open up the tracks in Sony CD Architect for some of the fades, positioning of all the tracks', and creating redbook DDP (Disk Description Protocol) files. Some duplication places will take PCMD files as well though. Also, I only dither from 24 bit to 16 bit once, in Sony CD Architect.
I use an L2 and sometimes an EQ on my 2Bus before the mastering stage. I try not to overdo it though. In the mastering stage, I'll use a seperate .ptf file and import the songs into it. I'll have a custom plug-in chain for each tune and have each song on a different track. Plugin wise I only use what's necessary for the song. IF it needs widening I'll use the S1 Shuffler, or the S1 Matrix followed by the S1 Shuffler to do some M/S processing and affect the center and sides differently. I also may use my the Linnear Band EQ's (Waves mastering bundle)for surgical work, but I mostly use my Arsenal Audio EQ-R24 and go in my Dangerous D-Box for analog summing, followed by the L2 at the end. For me, I prefer to master after all the songs are done so that I can look at the album as a whole and try to make the tones and imaging consistent.
I always check the drums in mono to make sure the phasing is ok. I'm also very anal about making sure the delay compensation is balanced. I can't wait to get HD in a couple years (I'm pretty tired of doing math and all the latency balancing). Mix wise, I try subtractive EQ first, because it preserves the captured tone better imo, and you can achieve more natural results by removing frequencies rather than adding to them. For example, I would say to first try using a high pass on your overheads rather than boost the top frequencies. You will clean things up that way and not have to drastically change the tone of things.
I use the PAZ analyzers a lot to get some visual confirmation on frequencies and stereo spread. Limiting your track at -0.3 dBfs or -0.5 dBfs is important because it adds a buffer so that you are not getting any digital peaking/overs. Even though your meters might say you're good, it can still peak so that is for safety.
Lastly, I mostly use my Waves Gold Bundle, Mastering Bundle, and the API bundle along with the typical plug-ins that come with PT. I'll mostly use the API bundle, along with the Renaissance EQ and Compressors. There are other great plugs in there though, and I use what the occasion calls for. Personally, I'm more interested in heavy rock and less extreme metal so I don't do much drum replacement. I also really enjoy using mics and I've got good pres so I have more fun using what I've captured. If it calls for it though, Drumagog is a great tool. When it comes to editing, I'll always edit the toms and ride/hi hat tracks to clean them up. Gates are great though, and they can save you time, but sometimes they aren't as effective as editing, and they can ruin the decay of your track if not used well. In addition, I don't typically use exciters much, and I try to keep things loud but not too squashed. I add reverbs before the mastering stage, and I typically add the high end brilliance and final low end tightening/expanding to the mastering stage. I just try to get everything as balanced as I can before, and then add the final EQ and Compression touches in the mastering stage. I mix and master in the same room, and I encourage poeple to seek mastering somewhere else, because it's hard to remain objective when you've heard the same toon a million times. A fresh ear can sometime improve it when you'd be unable to. My 2 cents. - paul

 

[roy22341]

A FEW QUESTIONS MORE ABOUT BASIC MIXING

- It's more a mixing question but... Do you ALWAYS use only substractive EQ ?

I try to stick to subtractive EQ whenever possible, but sometimes boosting a frequency is necessary.

- Do you quite never EQ more than high/low pass, or do you often do surgery operation with your EQ ? Or, do you do this only to fit the snare in between the guitars mainly for example ? When do you know you've lost the battle and have to start from zero again ?

EQing is great for things like, as you said, getting your snare to sit with the guitars. I usually boost around 3kHz on the snare to add some snap to help it stick out above the guitars.

- Do you include the mastering in your mental scheme, I mean do you count on any treatment, or do you prefer not to think about it and make your mix sound good just in the mix, and consider mastering as mainly destructive ?

I'll slap some light limiting on my master bus when I mix but nothing crazy.

As far as the mastering questions - I have no idea.